A sweet story but I felt it lacked depth and character motivation. Time flow also felt like an issue.

To me the characters seem to be very reactionary to the events in the story rather and them leading.
In the end I skim read the second half of the story as I wanted to know what happened by the lack of depth to the story meant that I wasn't putting much into it either.

New to me author Charlee James stole my heart with In With The Tide. She wrote two amazing and broken characters and found a beautiful way to bring them together. Love lost and then found again written in the beautiful New England setting of Cape Code had me smiling and hoping that Lindsey and Damien would find their way through their personal turmoil and find love with each other once and for all.

Damien had demons. Lots of them. Lindsey was one of them. One of his best friends growing up, he pushed her away as a teenager feeling that she deserved more than what he was. He found his way out of Chatham and is not looking forward to going there again. He didn’t have many good memories of being here and just needs to get in and get out again. But, reconnecting with Lindsey has him looking at things differently. Maybe he can stay the course. Maybe he has it in him to stay here and start a new life. Maybe Lindsey is who his heart has been waiting for. Now, it’s his turn to be there for her just like she was for him. He also has to find a way to get her to see that she is a strong, capable woman who can stand on her own two feet and do what she wants in her life … not some cowering, unsure woman that her bastard ex-husband turned her into.

Lindsey is happy to be home after a terrible divorce. It’s time to rebuild and move on with her baby. But, luck isn’t on her side until her old friend Damien shows up just when she needs him most. She didn’t expect him to offer to help her. She didn’t expect him to stand by her side. She didn’t expect to see the heat and want in his eyes. She knew he had a terrible upbringing and that his past is haunting him. She had to show him that there was someone who wouldn’t walk away, who understood him, that could and would love him.
Two mistakes … that’s all it took for Damien to walk away, to break Lindsey, to see what he really wanted in life. Now, let’s hope that she’ll forgive him and give him the family that he never had.

I adored this romantic, sweet and heart-wrenching story by Charlee James. She wrote a true romance that did touch my heart. She never once made wonder if this would end with a happy ending. She wrote endearing characters that had flaws but overcame them. In With The Tide is the first in the series and I cannot wait to see what else this author has for me.

This is the story of two people who were friends and then more when they were much younger. They haven't connected in years until divorce and death send them both home in this sweet and complicated. story. Both have psychological scars from emotionally abusive relationships and Lindsey has a baby on the way (and then arriving) to complicate things further. Damien is closed off yet and has to wrestle with so many bad memories in settling his father's estate. Yet there is something there between them which they fight but also struggle to nurture.

In With the Tide was well written and the story kept my attention. I definitely enjoyed reading it.

Rating: 4.5/5

This is a relatively short but sweet second-chance romance set in Cape Cod. Both Lindsey Hunter and her childhood friend Damien Trent had never thought they would return to their childhood home but fate has them doing so for very different reasons at the same time. She’s divorced and pregnant whilst he’s returning to sort out his late father’s estate. As teens these two had a brief more than friends relationship but then he’d left to join the marines, pushing her away as he never thought he was good enough for her.

Now they reconnect when he comes to her rescue after her car breaks down. The attraction is still there and Damien keeps turning up when she needs him most. He had a terrible childhood home and Lindsey was the only redeeming feature from that time, now he has to face up to all that time again and Lindsey is there to support him. This is a delightful and moving story with endearing characters who just can’t stay away from each other and prove to each other that they are stronger together and both deserve their chance to have a HEA together.

This is an emotively written story written in a way which makes it easy to relate to the characters, their angst and turmoil. The setting is brought to life by the vivid descriptions and the ending is superb. I enjoyed escaping into this lovely second-chance romance and have no hesitation in highly recommending it!

I requested and received a copy of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

Damien returned home, where he had a lot of bad memories of his father, to lay his father to rest. He has to stay in town to take care of the sale of the house after he cleans it out. He is trying to face the demons of his childhood.

When he first rolls into town he comes across Lindsey Hunter. A 'friend" from the past. She is now pregnant and her car has purchased a house that is in need of repairs. Can Damien and Lindsey help each other through these rough times and offer each other the support they need.

The story kept me on the edge of my seat. I think you will enjoy it as well.

I found that this book was just a little hard to get into.

Was amazing beautiful book
That I loved , the characters were perfect for each other

I found In With the Tide by Charlee James, book one in her Cape Cod Shores series a delightful second chance story. There’s more than one way people have second chances. In this story Lindsey is returning to Cape Cod very pregnant, divorced, and looking for a fresh start to her life. Damien is not back in Cape Cod by choice but to deal with his abusive father’s estate. Lindsey is stranded on the side of the road by car trouble and Damien comes to the rescue, reuniting these two old friends. Lindsey thought she and Damien could be more than friends, back in their school days, until he enlisted and left her behind. As they reacquaint themselves they find the attraction is still there. The problem is Damien is used to being a lone wolf, not staying in one place. The more time he spends time with Lindsey and her newborn baby the more he wonders if he is strong enough to overcome his demons so he can stay and have the kind of family he’d always wanted.
I enjoyed reading this story. Ms. James wrote an excellent story, keeping me interested in this story so that I had trouble putting it down. I highly recommend this outstanding book to other readers and look forward to the next book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

The most special treasures are washed in with the tide.

Years ago, Lindsey Hunter and Damian Trent shared a first kiss. Afterwards Damian pulled away and Lindsey was left wondering why.

Lindsey was eight months pregnant and returning to her hometown of Chatham after her marriage ended. She was looking forward to starting her new life in the cute little beach cottage she had bought. She was headed there when her car broke down on the side of the road in a secluded area.

Damian was headed back home for his father’s funeral when he came across Lindsey with her broke down car on the side of the road. He couldn’t just leave her there. He had to help her even though he hadn’t planned on seeing her while he was in town. He just wanted to get his father’s house cleaned out and sold and then he would disappear again. But there was a glitch in his plans when he found out there were no vacancies in the hotels and Lindsey offered him her extra bedroom. Being that close to the girl who stole his heart all those years ago was going to be a challenge for Damian.

This was a wonderfully written book with lots of elements. For starters, there is Lindsey and Damian’s romance and their struggles learning to trust each other. Sweet baby Maris was born early and made Damian want to settle down which totally confused him. And then, there is a life changing discovery that Lindsey finds while going through paperwork at Damian’s father’s house. This discovery can either help Damian settle down or send him running for good. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good romance.

2.5 “You chase away the shadows.” Stars

In With the Tide isn’t my first outing with Charlee James, and after loving her fairytale retelling of Beauty and The Beast with another publisher, I had no qualms on grabbing this.

“...she had the power to irreversibly untwine him—body, mind, and soul.”

This book suffered for its shorter length. The second chance creates that lovely familiarity between the characters which lessens the getting to know one another aspect, but overall I found it had a rushed feel with too many sub plots crammed in, time jumps which didn’t flow (several times I had to scroll back to see if I’d missed something) and a few too many moments where it ventured into telling rather than showing territory.

“Maybe everything we’ve gone through has been a stepping stone to bring us back together.”

Yet I pretty much read in one sitting and I largely attribute that to the moments when Charlee’s engaging writing style shone through. Given more page space, this story could have been taken from average to great.

Fantastic story of second chance love when the tide is moving against them. Definitely a book to pick up!

In with the tide by Charlee James is a nice little romantic story set at Cape Cod at a little romantic beach cottage.
It's a nice story with good described characters and a good story line.

3 - "The day you stole my lunch box, you stole my heart…" Stars.

A quick review for what is essentially a very quick read. And if I am honest I think that’s what detracted from my enjoyment of the overall product. When you are cracking out a novella length story I think you need to focus on the main characters and what is going on with them, which sadly wasn’t fully the case in In with the Tide.

He still wanted her… He had always wanted her.

Great premise with the whole second chance aspect between Lindsey and Damien, and as a pair they are both dealing with enough between them that the extraneous factors that were also thrown in made everything seem rushed, repetitive and extremely under developed. This book needed to be either 75-100 pages longer or two tropes lighter to allow for proper development of the main aspects of the story between this couple.

"Maybe everything we’ve gone through has been a stepping stone to bring us back together…"

I have read this author before, and there were glimpses of the beautiful emotive characterisations and story that she can put together in this one, but the story wasn’t given the chance to flow organically and everything was resolved with little or no real gravitas because of it.

"No more running from problems… No more fear."

I look forward to Jay’s book, I just hope it’s either longer, or less trope laden.

In With the Tide by Charlee James. This is Lindsey Hunter and Damien Trent’s story.

This was an entertaining read. Lindsey and Damien went to school together and their paths cross again. They both have difficult issues that they are dealing with. Lindsey is back home recently divorced and pregnant and Damien is back home to bury his father that abused him.

I really liked Lindsey and Damien’s characters. Can Lindsey and Damien find true love, happiness, and healing from their past hurts?

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Damian’s father was dead and he was truly alone. The last blood tie , the final rope tying Damian to his past gone. Damian had gone into the Marines and he had served three tours in Iran and had been a Marine sniper and he learned a trick to cool his nerves when shells exploded around him that was to let his mind go blank. As he was doing now as he started to remember the beatings and the belt when his father was drunk which was a lot. Then as Damian rode his bike he saw a car broken down and the driver was a ghost from Damian's past- Lindsay who was very pregnant but her husband had cheated on her and now she came back to her hometown, divorced and about to be a single parent. Lindsay had brought a cottage without coming and seeing it as the photos had looked okay. But it was in no shape to bring a newborn home to. Damian had come back to clean out his father's house do some minor repairs and sell it. There was no room to be had at any of the hotels so damien offered to pay Lindsay to stay with her and that way she would have some extra money when the baby came. Lindsay had been kind to damien when he was a lot younger and as a teen they had kissed in a game of spin the bottle then he backed away from her and they didn’t even speak in HS. Lindsay didn’t belong with a guy like him. Then Lindsay offered to help him go through his father stuff and he could do some minor work for her. Damian was terrified of the affection that went through him every time Lindsay was near. Lindsay went into labor early and Damian was with her when Mavis was born.
I loved this book. It was a quick easy but emotional romance. I loved Damian and Lindsay together. I was so glad Damian decided not to leave. I also loved how Damian and Kate accepted each other like they had grown up together as brother and sister instead of just meeting. Lindsay was so much stronger than she thought. And i was so happy when she stood up to her ex Mathew. I chuckled while reading this book. I also got choked up at times. I read this in one setting bit i also didn’t want to put it down. It had my attention from beginning until end. I found nothing to criticize in this book I am happy to say. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend.

In With The Tide is a sweet, light contemporary romance from debut author Charlee James. Set on Cape Cod the story has a relaxed, beachy feel.
This short second chance at Love story sees recently retired Marine Damien Trent meeting up with Lindsay, the girl he’d kissed as a teenager and never forgotten. Damien and Lindsay have both had some bad influences in their past leaving each of them with trust issues which interfere with their growing relationship as the story unfolds.
I thought this story was a really good first effort. There are things that could have been done better. The story is peppered with similes, which were a bit overabundant and interfered with the flow. The characters could have been fleshed out a little more, but really this story has good bones and I enjoyed reading it.

An amazing read, that I could not put down. Lindsey, newly divorced and pregnant is returning to her Cape Cod town when her car breaks down. Damien , a childhood friend has also returned to town after his father's death has come to the rescue. They were opposites growing up, poor vs well to do. Lindsey always had a secret crush on Damien. Now they are sharing her small home, with a new baby and falling in love. They both try to help each other out, but is it to much.

Loved these characters. Both with pasts that they need to let go to thrive in the future. Lindsey's favorite line "lost you once when we were kids. I can't let it happen again. I'm such a sucker for beach reads too. This is a new author for me, and can't wait to read more. I highly recommend this book.

This book has some second chances which I love, but there is just so much more to Lindsey and Damien’s story
I love their characters clear back to when he was stealing from her lunch box till now and add her baby to the mix it’s just such a good read, I knew in the first chapter I had found another author for my favorites list.
Yes it brought tears to my eyes a few times but as I closed the book I felt such overwhelming contentment I was about to burst with it, the book really was that wonderful.

This is a sweet contemporary romance set in beautiful Cape Cod. A second chance story that will make your heart happy.

Lindsey Hunter is heading home. Divorced and very pregnant she wants to replant her roots in Chatham on Cape Cod. Her parents live close by, and she feels happy by the sea. Unfortunately, her car decided to die on the side of the road before she could get there. No cell phone coverage adds more stress. Suddenly the roar of a motorcycle cheers her and frightens her at the same time.

Damien Trent is headed to Chatham after his dad passed away to attend his funeral and take care of his house and possessions. It’s not a happy homecoming. He left Chatham when he graduated high school and immediately joined the Marines. He spent nine years as a sniper, was injured and lost his best friend. It was time to do something else. Heading to his home town and burying his dad was not what he planned. Near the end of his road trip he sees a car broken down on the side of the road with a very pregnant woman standing g by the car. He stops and is amazed to see his crush from high school Lindsey. He takes her, and her dog, to a car repair station in town. Grabbing something to eat, they catch up. Lindsey has bought a small cottage on the shore that needs a good bit of work before the baby comes. Damien needs to find somewhere to stay to finish taking care of things, and there are no openings in hotels in the height of summer.
They strike up a bargain that will help both of them. Little did they know how much it would change their lives.

Damien starts fixing up the cottage, Lindsey starts nesting. Their friendship grows and becomes important to both of them. Their are some difficult times coming....can Damien stay, or will he hit the road to escape?

Thank you to Tule publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this story.

Pat Fordyce